In 1990 the Catalan Government and the Catalan Institute for Mediterranean Studies ambitioned to create a prestigious cultural institution, which would embody the cultural and economical vitality of Catalonia and consolidate Barcelona as the capital city of the Mediterranean Culture.

Conceived as a gathering place at the end of Barcelona’s Avinguda Diagonal, this cultural facility was meant to be a catalyst for the major regeneration initiatives planned for what used to be an industrial area.

RBTA scheme for this cultural institution, expected to accommodate from two to three million visitors per year, was designed to house the Museum of Natural and Cultural...

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Mediterranean Cultural Centre

Description

In 1990 the Catalan Government and the Catalan Institute for Mediterranean Studies ambitioned to create a prestigious cultural institution, which would embody the cultural and economical vitality of Catalonia and consolidate Barcelona as the capital city of the Mediterranean Culture.

Conceived as a gathering place at the end of Barcelona’s Avinguda Diagonal, this cultural facility was meant to be a catalyst for the major regeneration initiatives planned for what used to be an industrial area.

RBTA scheme for this cultural institution, expected to accommodate from two to three million visitors per year, was designed to house the Museum of Natural and Cultural History, a multimedia library, a research and study centre on the Mediterranean and a conference hall.

The library, the study centre and the administration offices are grouped within a double-curtain wall 12-storey building from which a cable-supported lightweight transparent roof is suspended. This roof covers a great public agora facing the sea, which extends the building out to the public realm; this space accommodates the information centre, shops, restaurants and temporary exhibitions. Additionally, two underground levels of exhibition space are laid out around an atrium connected to the square.